Anthropomorphism and Commodity Fetish
These are notes that I found from an old sociology notebook from my Animals and Society course.
A little context: The topic of discussion was "What would happen if slaughterhouses had glassdoors?"
I wrote my response. I'm assuming my main message was "Due to the visibility of the process to provide food that we interact with daily, glass walls provide more context between the individual and the animal sold in grocery stores, which is not ideal for the glamorization of the commodity because this type of exposure causes."
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5.3.25 Animals and Society
An Object requires hands (people) to create it. They symbolize the work and interactions that has led to the very moment of the object being produced. Conversations were held to brainstorm the product (the plans that describe how the production process will unfold). The cooperation to acquire materials to make the products, and so on and so forth. These are examples of the social processes involved in creating something to be sold for someone to use w/o a second thought about what could be used to recognize the effort people put into creating that object. To a consumer, objects symbolize only the exchange of money rather than the efforts of a producer.
This reminds me (my 5.3.23 self) of distance and concealment because if slaughterhouses did have glass waslls people would be exposed to the working conditions of the killfloor. The unethical treatment of the workers would illicit a negative reaction like disgust or horror, which could transform into guilt once a consumer realizes it is all for their benefit. The commodity they've invested so much in will serve as a physical reminder of the fact that people were heavily involved converting their meat at some deep personal cost of the mistreated employee w/ distance to the people on the kill floor removed (as well) we would be exposed to how gruesome the job affects a person (Producer)
